Our Story

When I think back, I can see God's fingerprints in places I didn't recognize at the time. What I thought was the beginning was often preparation for something much greater.

People often ask me how all of this came to be.  The truth is, it didn't begin with summits, programs, field trips, or shared meals.

It began with a calling.

Long before I understood the full assignment, God placed a few simple ingredients in my hands: a heart for young people, a passion for leadership, a love for community, and a deep desire to help people discover the greatness He had already placed within them.

Like preparing a cherished family recipe, I didn't have the whole recipe. I only had the ingredients God entrusted to me in that season and enough faith to take the next step.

In 2012, those first ingredients became Milne Inspiration Center – Adolescents Making Positive Educated Decisions (MIC-AMPED). Our mission was to expose young people to new possibilities through arts, culture, education, leadership development, entrepreneurship, and service. We wanted every young person who walked through our doors to know their future was greater than their current circumstances.

From the very first day, I would always tell our students,

At first, they weren't quite sure what I meant.

But by the end of the program, when I'd ask, "What is MIC-AMPED?" the room would come alive with one response:

That wasn't part of the curriculum.

It was our culture.

Family wasn't something we promised at the end of the journey. It was how we welcomed people from the very beginning.

Looking back, I can now see that while I thought I was building a youth organization, God was teaching me how to build family.

Over the years, He continued adding new ingredients to the recipe. Every summit, mentoring session, field trip, service project, partnership, shared meal, and conversation expanded my understanding of the assignment.

Then came the fire, not to destroy the vision, but to refine it. Just as heat transforms individual ingredients into something they could never become on their own, God used every season to deepen, strengthen, and mature the vision He had placed in my heart.

What began as Milne Inspiration Center – Adolescents Making Positive Educated Decisions has matured into Mindful Intergenerational Connections, reflecting a vision that now extends beyond youth to individuals, families, leaders, and communities across generations.

Today, AMPED reflects a deeper understanding of the assignment.

What began as a mission to expose young people to new possibilities has grown into a movement that creates spaces where people of every generation feel seen, heard, valued, and reminded they belong.

That mission comes to life through The Table Experience, Vulnerability ReImagined, Connect Feaux, and Awakening Fellowship—each one a different expression of the same calling:

The recipe has grown.

The table has expanded.

The family is still growing.

If there's one ingredient that's has remained in every season, it's God's grace. It welcomed us, sustained us, refined us, and continues to make room for one more at the table.

Welcome to the family.